


Here's to You

by Interrobanng



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Angst, F/M, First Date, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Marichat, Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, Secret Date, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 13:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16893939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interrobanng/pseuds/Interrobanng
Summary: Marinette always knew it would be dangerous to let anyone get too close.She was right.(it’s another reveal fic)





	1. Chapter One

****

**_Here’s to You_ **

****

***

 

**Chapter One**

*******

 

 

Ladybug couldn’t date.

Marinette understood this fact on a visceral level.

There were _so many_ reasons why Ladybug couldn’t date. Sometimes, like tonight, Marinette lay awake in bed and counted the reasons in her head.

It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t safe. It wasn’t practical. It wasn’t what she wanted.

It wasn’t smart because allowing _anyone_ to get that close to her alter ego would inevitably result in that person figuring out her secret identity. Marinette was always careful, but she also knew herself well enough to admit that she turned into a confetti cannon of personal information and unintended confessions around anyone she was genuinely interested in.

It wasn’t safe because if word got out that Ladybug was dating someone, as it inevitably would, her enemies would do their absolute best to exploit her relationship. Rather than a movie ticket or an ice cream cone, she’d be better off buying her theoretical romantic partner a t-shirt with the words ‘Akumatize me!’ printed on the front and a giant bulls eye on the back. One freudian slip, one lingering glance, one affectionate gesture and Hawk Moth would be all over her paramour like a monarch caterpillar on milk weed.

It wasn’t practical because they wouldn’t be able to do anything or go anywhere as a couple. Ladybug attracted attention wherever she went—from supervillains and the media and random civilians who either had thanks to give or bones to pick. It wasn’t really dating if you never got to spend time together, was it? It wouldn’t be like a long-distance relationship since the obstacle wasn’t geography but rather _having any contact whatsoever._

It wasn’t what she wanted because Marinette didn’t want Ladybug to be a sex object. It was hard enough getting the press to keep their questions professional as is. She had a minor panic attack whenever she imagined what they would say if Ladybug were romantically involved. That kind of attention would be unbearable. People might start respecting her less, which would make it even harder to do her job. Plus, she’d be condemned to spending the rest of her school years listening to Alya and Nino debate internet theories about her sex life, which…no. Just. No.

Ladybug _couldn’t_ date _anyone_ , and Marinette got it.

Chat Noir, on the other hand, did not seem to get it _at all._

And every time he asked her out, for ice cream or movies or public garden walks or any number of activities that they couldn’t actually engage in together, it got harder and harder to say no.

Marinette rolled over, pulled the covers over her head, and kept counting her reasons.

She didn’t get much sleep that night.

 

***

 

Ladybug wasn’t going to date him.

It had taken him a long time to realize this, and he wasn’t exactly happy about it, but Adrien accepted the fact.

He understood the reasons why Ladybug couldn’t date just _anyone._ They were the same reasons Chat Noir couldn’t date just anyone. But he’d always thought, or hoped, that he might be her exception. Because they weren’t _just anyone_ , they were partners, Ladybug and Chat Noir, the unstoppable team.

It was destiny, meant to be, bound to happen, sooner or later.

They were inevitable, he’d thought.

And said. Out loud. To her. On multiple occasions.

_Yikes._

Then, one day when Nathalie was going over the new house alarm codes for that month, Adrien had an epiphany.

Whoever Ladybug was under the mask, she probably didn’t live in a house with a high tech military-grade security system.

For the first time in his life, Adrien contemplated the meaning of the word _privilege._

And suddenly, something clicked.

She’d always been the more cautious of the two, always guarded, always vigilant. He laughed at danger that she vanquished in an instant, because she _had_ to. Because she had something to protect. And unlike his something, her something could not protect itself.

Chat Noir was a threat to Ladybug’s something.

It didn’t matter that he was her partner, it didn’t matter that they trusted each other with their lives, and it didn’t matter that he’d sooner die than betray her. Even with the best intentions, he was a risk.

_They_ were a risk.

A risk he could probably afford and that she probably couldn’t.

And honestly? Adrien hadn’t lived enough to know what to do about that.

So dating Ladybug?

Yeah. Not gonna happen.

“Glad we’re on the same page.” Plagg sneered. “So why the hell do you keep asking her to the movies?”

“I don’t _plan_ on it! It just slips out!” Adrien wailed, falling back on his bed and covering his face with a pillow. There were only a few hours of darkness left before the break of dawn but the young superhero’s racing mind showed no signs of weariness. “My mouth says the words before my brain can tell it not to!”

“Then drink some coffee and tell your brain to do its fucking job.” Plagg grumbled, though his demeanor softened as he watched his Chosen sink miserably into the covers. “It’s not like you _want_ to make her uncomfortable, right?”

No.

No, Adrien definitely didn’t want that.

He didn’t get much sleep that night.

 

***

 

“Psst, Ivan, look!”

“Why are you whispering, Mylene? The librarian isn’t even here.”

“Shh!” Mylene hissed and yanked Ivan behind a bookshelf. “You’ll wake them up.”

“Who are you…” Ivan trailed off as his eyes landed on the two students who had drifted to sleep, side by side, at one of the study tables in the center of the library. “Aww…” Ivan cooed when he saw how Marinette was using Adrien’s arm like a pillow and Adrien was sleepily nuzzling into her hair. Even from a distance, it was clear that the snoozing pair were blissfully oblivious to the world and their physical proximity. Their text books were splayed open on the table in front of them. An uncapped highlighter had fallen out of Marinette’s hand and rolled under Adrien’s chair.

“I have _got_ to get a picture of this.” Mylene whispered and pulled out her phone. Intrigued by the triumphant chord in her voice, Ivan glanced at her screen to see who she was texting.

“What’s Secret Garden?”

“Shh!”

 

***

 

When he was sure the nosy classmates were gone and the coast was clear, Plagg took a risk and phased out of Adrien’s book bag and into Marinette’s purse.

“I can’t take it anymore!” He hissed, skipping the small talk.

Tikki rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“You don’t understand!” Plagg wailed. “He spends all his time mooning over her! It’s insufferable!”

“You live in a mansion and get all the camembert you could possibly want. You’re hardly suffering.”

“Do _not_ underestimate the extent of my cheese lust.” He warned.

“I’ve got it just as bad, you know.” Tikki sighed, crossing her arms. “Keeping Marinette from crossing the line between adolescent infatuation and unhealthy obsession is a full time job.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Plagg whined. “Everything would be so much better if they knew!”

“Absolutely not.”

“But—”

“No. We _tried_ going public, remember? And what happened? Joan got burned at the stake, that’s what happened.” Tikki’s sapphire eyes cracked and shattered. “I won’t go through that again.”

“I’m not saying we go public. I’m saying we tell _them_ so they’ll shut up about their hormones for five minutes.”

Tikki’s demeanor softened with amusement, but she kept her tone disapproving. “Wouldn’t that just make the problem worse?”

“Nope.” Plagg scratched his ear with his foot. “He can’t be bugging me while he’s snogging her.”

“O ye of little faith…” Tikki sighed, her amusement and irritation fading into resignation. “You know why we can’t tell them, Plagg. In many ways, they’re still children. Who knows who they’ll become in the future, who they’ll _want_ to become. As long as their identities remain secret, they can walk away, break our contract and let the superhero fade into myth and memory while they lead the life they choose. And as soon as someone else, _anyone_ else, shares that secret, they lose that choice. That’s it. Done. They’re Ladybug and Chat Noir forever, end of story.” Tikki sympathetically rested her arm on Plagg’s shoulder. “We can’t take that choice away from them, Plagg. If they tell each other the truth, it has to be _their_ decision.” Her face wrinkled. “Even if listening to Marinette try to form complete sentences around Adrien is like gargling with mercury.”

“Oh yeah? He makes me listen to his _poetry_.”

“I’m so sorry.”

A muffled _“Whazzuh?”_ from above signaled the end of their tête-à-tête. With a quick peck to Tikki’s forehead, Plagg phased back into Adrien’s bag as the two slumbering superheroes woke up from their nap.

 

***

 

 

_Smells nice…_

What smells nice?

_Girl…_

Er…what girl?

Adrien’s eyelids slowly peeled to reveal an inky black sky.

_No…_

_Wait…_

Correction: An earlier version of this thought misidentified the substance as the sky. The substance was in fact human hair.

A few blinks later, Adrien realized that he was staring at the top of Marinette’s head. A few blinks after that, he realized that he was staring at the top of Marinette’s head because her face was resting on his arm and his nose was buried in her hair.

And _then_ he had the horrifying realization that her hair was also _in his mouth._ Because he’d been _chewing on her hair in his sleep._

He worked his jaw, trying to subtly remove the raven locks from his orifice without waking his classmate. He failed.

“Whazzuh?” Marinette opened her eyes and tried to sit up, resulting in a direct forehead-to-chin collision. The two friends yelped and leaned away from each other, their faces red and smarting.

“Ohmigod Adrien!” Marinette cried. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Adrien was too embarrassed to answer right away, which only worsened Marinette’s panic.

_“Ohmigod_ you _are_ hurt! O-oh no. Wha-what should I—Adrien! I-I’m so _so_ sorry! Oh god, did I bruise your face? Did I destroy your career?! I-I-I-I’ll take responsibility! I-I-I-I—”

“Marinette, it’s okay!” Adrien snapped out of his mortified daze enough to reassure her. “I’m fine. You just, uh, caught me by surprise is…all…” He trailed off when his gaze landed on the top of her head and he noticed a damp patch of hair sticking up at weird angles. An unfamiliar sensation, red-hot and somehow sticky but not entirely unpleasant, flooded his body, making Adrien want to crawl out of his skin.

Either that, or…

“Oh my god…”

Fortunately, Marinette’s devastated whisper diverted his train of thought from the exceedingly dangerous track it was headed towards. Heart hammering, his eyes returned to her face. Marinette was staring at his arm as if it had grown teeth and when Adrien followed her gaze he noticed for the first time a patch of skin that was slightly red and slightly damp.

“Oh my god…” Marinette whispered almost too quietly for him to hear. “I broke Adrien’s face _and_ I drooled on him.”

Adrien was swamped with emotion. The hot sticky feeling had returned with a vengeance, only now it was competing with a cool tide of relief. At least she couldn’t get _too_ upset about what he’d done to her hair, right? This made them even, right?!

Before he could say another word, Marinette swept up her belongings and fled, leaving a thousand stammered apologies in her wake.

Once the library was silent and otherwise unoccupied, Adrien remembered to breathe.

_Well…_ he thought as he collected his textbooks and study guides. _That was a freebie._

***

 

Adrien was sleeping over at Nino’s that night.

Securing his father’s permission had been a monumental undertaking, involving weeks of begging, bribing, and borderline blackmail, but Gabriel had caved at the last moment. Adrien could barely contain his excitement as the town car parked in front of Nino’s apartment building and his friend raced out to greet him. His excitement turned to confusion as Nino rushed him inside.

“Look, dude, we’ve got _one night_ to get you caught up on sixteen years of pop culture tropes.” Nino explained as they climbed the narrow stairs to the third floor. “We’re already behind schedule.”

“There’s a schedule?”

“Yup. We’ve got good-bad pizza—which is not the same as bad-bad pizza and I know you don’t believe me about that but after tonight we’ll never have to have that argument again—and too much candy and movies and a pillow fight and prank calls and—”

“Whoa, Nino, slow down. It’s my first sleepover, not my last.”

Nino’s mouth twisted in a grimace as he opened the apartment door. “It’s just…I want you to have fun tonight.” He muttered.

“How could I not? Relax, Nino, it’s just me.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So…who are we gonna prank call?”

 

***

 

Alya growled as her phone rang for a fifth time.

“Don’t you need to get that?” Marinette asked.

“Nope.” Alya replied firmly. “Anyway, how are you? Anything you want to share?”

Marinette shrugged and took a sip of her iced latte. The two friends had stayed out late and were walking home the long way, enjoying the warm evening and the company. “Not really.”

“Nothing to report? Any new developments?”

“You mean since this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Nah.” Marinette laughed.

“Really.” Alya drawled. “Because I heard that a certain designer was getting cozy with a certain model in the library after school today.”

“Wha-what?! No—that wasn’t—I—I didn’t—I…” Marinette’s shoulders slumped. “How did you find out?”

“It would be unethical for me to reveal my source.” Alya answered primly. Then she frowned with concern. “What’s wrong? I thought for sure you’d be over the moon.”

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

“Okay, _now_ I’m worried.” Alya stopped her with a hand on her arm. “What happened? Did he do something untoward? Say the word and I’ll kick his ass from here to Tasmania, no questions asked.” Alya’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Unless…did _you_ do something untoward?”

Marinette’s blush deepened and Alya gasped.

“No way! Girl, what did you _do?”_

Marinette muttered something too softly for Alya to hear.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that.”

“isaididrooledonhimokay…”

“Huh?”

“I SAID I DROOLED ON HIM OKAY!” Marinette bellowed furiously, causing numerous pedestrians to turn and stare at the girls. Marinette groaned and hid her face in her hands. “And then when I woke up I head-butted him in the face and probably broke his jaw and now his father will be mad at him and he’ll never work again and he’ll hate me forever and—”

“Hold your horses, girl.” Alya laughed. “I don’t think it’s as bad as all that. First of all, you didn’t put a single scratch on Sunflower’s pretty face, so breathe. Nino sent me a pic of them about half an hour ago.” Alya pulled out her phone and showed Marinette a picture of Nino and Adrien posing with several pounds of candy and huge grins. “See? He’s fine. As for the drooling…” Alya shrugged. “It’s really not a big deal. And who knows? Maybe he’s into it.”

“Alya!”

“You can’t fool me with those baby blues, Marinette. I’ve seen your manga collection, remember?”

“Sh-shut up!”

“My point is; it could be worse. He could be your long-lost half-angel half-brother who has sworn vengeance against all of humanity and who you’re having wildly inappropriate sex with, or something.”

_“Alyaaaa!”_

_Bing_

A text popped up on Alya’s phone before she put it back in her pocket.

 

**N: Truce? I might have done something bad and I need you to play along or its all gonna go sideways…**

And that’s when Marinette’s phone rang.

 

***

 

_Brrriiiiiiiiing_

Adrien’s heart was lodged so far up his throat he could almost taste it.

_Brrriiiiiiiiing_

His palms were greasy with sweat and his stomach churned.

_Brrriiiiiiiiing_

Why was he doing this? What was wrong with him? Wasn’t prank calling his classmates enough adventure for one night? What had possessed him to agree to play Truth or Dare with Nino?

Why the _hell_ had Nino dared him to do _this?_

_Brrriiiiiiiiing_

Why didn’t he just say no?!

_Brrriii—_

_“Hello?”_

“HIHELLOMARINETTEWOULDYOULIKETOGETCOFFEEWITHMESOMETIME?! LIKEONADATEORSOMETHING?! OKAYBYE!!!”

Adrien chucked the phone at the wall and it landed gently on the bed.

“I hate you.” He groaned, covering his face and sinking into a miserable puddle on the floor. “I can’t believe you made me do that. I don’t even—”

He broke off as Nino silently picked up the phone and ended the call. For a moment the universe froze, with Nino standing by the bed with the phone in his hand and an expression of stunned horror on his face, Adrien collapsed in a miserable puddle of stomach-squirming shock on the floor.

“Dude…I never thought you’d actually go through with it…”

 

***

 

Marinette kept her phone pressed to her ear long after the line went dead.

_I’m going to murder both of them._ Alya thought grimly.

“So…” She said, gently pulling the device out of Marinette’s frozen grasp. “Who was that?”

“It was…it sounded like…maybe…Adrien?”

Marinette didn’t sound sure, but Alya couldn’t blame her.

“Wow! Lucky! What did he say?” Alya asked brightly, even though she knew exactly what Nino had dared Adrien to ask Marinette. Nino had explained everything in a series of frantic text messages while Adrien was screaming into the receiver.

“…I…I think he…asked me out? On a date? And then he said he hated me. And then he hung up…”

“…” Alya rolled her eyes and reached for her pocket. “Hold on, let me check something.”

 

**A: Did your boy seriously tell my girl he hates her?!?!?**

**N: No, he was talking to me. Sry. He forgot to end call.**

**A: FFS.**

**N: Srsly. But! We can still make this work!**

**N: Right?**

**N: RIGHT?!**

“Marinette, if Adrien asked you out on a date, there’s no way he hates you.” Alya announced firmly, placing her hand on her shell-shocked friend’s shoulder and steering her down the sidewalk.

“He…he hung up before I could answer…I…I don’t think he really meant it…”

“What?” Alya laughed nervously. “Of course he did! What kind of jerk would ask a girl out on a dare? Adrien’s not like that, Marinette.”

“A dare?”

“Uh…that was just a random example. Totally irrelevant, forget I said anything.” _Nino, I’m gonna skin your punk ass alive for this. They’re not ready!_

***

 

“Dude, what the hell were you thinking?!”

“You’re the one who dared me to do it!”

“If I dared you to jump off a building, would you do it?!”

“Yeah, probably!”

“Well what the fuck is _that_ about, Adrien?!”

“Nino!” Adrien bellowed, his fists clenched and his face red. “What am I going to _do?!”_

Nino grabbed Adrien by the collar and hauled him close so that they were standing nose to nose.

“You’re going to go on that date with Marinette, that’s what you’re going to do.” Nino hissed, determination radiating off his skin like heat and fogging up his glasses. This sleepover had been _his_ idea, Truth and Dare had been _his_ idea, teasing his oblivious friends had been _his_ idea, and there was no way in hell he was going to allow his own dickishness to ruin whatever Adrien had going with Marinette. Nino cared about them both way too much to let that happen. “And you are never, _ever_ going to tell her that you asked her out on a dare.”

“She didn’t even say yes.” Adrien frowned. “Also, I can’t lie to Marinette.”

Not for the first time, Nino wished The Bubbler had done a better job teaching Gabriel Agreste a lesson.

“Okay, Adrien, forget the pop culture stuff. We’re going to spend the rest of the night doing hard core emotional intelligence building. Starting with: Strategic Omission, What It Is And Why We Use It.”

“Huh?”

 

***

 

**M: Hi?**

**A: Hi! Sorry about earlier.**

**M: About that…I’d love to!**

**A: Yeah, so, Nino and I were dfgkjdgs;kn**

**A: Are you free tomorrow? 5ish?**

**M: Yes <3**

**A: Great! It’s a date! I’ll pick you up at your place!**

**M: Awesome!**

*******

“Nino, give me back my phone.”

“Not yet. Now repeat after me. I?”

“I.”

“Will not?”

“Will not.”

“Tell Marinette?”

“Tell Marinette.”

“About the dare.”

“About the dare.”

“Got it?”

“Nino, seriously, I think it would be better if I just came clean…”

“No! Okay. From the top. Ten Reasons Why It Is Not Cool To Ask Someone Out On A Dare…”

 

***

 

“Alya, can I have my phone back now?”

“I think I should probably keep it until your date tomorrow…just to be safe.”

“What date?”

“Adrien’s picking you up at 5 o’clock.”

“WHAT?!”

“I don’t have time for your shock and confusion, Marinette! We have less than 24 hours to pick an outfit for your first ever official date with Adrien Agreste, professional fashion model! Go go go!”

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

*******

 

Adrien woke up in the depths of hell.

He tried to be bright and personable during breakfast with Nino’s family, but it was a struggle to speak past the haze of anxiety. Nino, knowing and being the cause of Adrien’s distress, ran interference, covering for his best bud every time Adrien lapsed into brooding silence. He was downright apologetic by the time Adrien’s driver showed up.

“I’m _really_ sorry, dude. I never shoulda dared you to ask out Marinette.” Nino admitted glumly as they said goodbye on the sidewalk. “If it makes you feel any better, Alya says she’s really excited about tonight.”

That did not make Adrien feel better. In fact, it only made him feel worse.

“She’s going to hate me.”

“No she isn’t. Just…” Nino reached out and squeezed Adrien’s shoulder. “Don’t screw this up.”

But _of course_ Adrien was going to screw it up.

The certainty of this fact was indisputable, unavoidable, undeniable. As the minutes turned into hours and 5 o’clock inched steadily closer, his melancholy deepened. He paced his room and fretted as the sunlight dwindled.

Marinette was one of his best friends. She was one of _everyone’s_ best friends. Adrien found it hard to believe that anyone who knew Marinette could ever truly dislike her. Even Chloe secretly admired their class representative, though he doubted anyone other than himself and maybe Sabrina was aware of the sentiment. And why wouldn’t Chloe admire Marinette?

Marinette, the most honorable person he’d ever met.

Marinette, who hated liars.

Marinette, who (like anyone) also probably hated being used.

She was going to _hate_ him.

He couldn’t tell her about the dare, because then she’d feel tricked and would hate him.

He couldn’t lie to her, because she was smart and she had Alya on her side and _sooner or later she was going to find out._ And if she found out before he told her, she would hate him.

He couldn’t cancel the date because Alya had told Nino that Marinette was looking forward to it and if he canceled he would hurt her feelings. If he hurt Marinette’s feelings, she would hate him _and_ Alya would murder him.

He couldn’t go on the date because if he did he would be _lying_ to her and _toying_ with her and he _couldn’t_ do that. He wouldn’t.

He also couldn’t tell her the truth.

He couldn’t tell her that the second he heard Nino say “Okay, I dare you to…ask Marinette out for coffee!” his brain shut down and his fingers moved over his phone and his mouth started spewing words before he had a chance to think about it.

It was exactly like when he asked Ladybug out without meaning to. Only _a million times worse_ because, this time, other people knew about it, she actually said _yes_ and they wouldn’t be able to brush it off as a joke and act like nothing ever happened after he inevitably _screwed everything up_.

But more than anything else…Adrien couldn’t let Marinette find out that when he pulled up her contact on his phone, he was remembering the smell of her hair. The scent of cinnamon and coffee and something entirely her own.

Because if she found out what he’d been thinking, then she’d naturally ask how he knew what her hair smelled like and she’d find out that he’d been _chewing on her hair_ and she would _hate_ him.

The clock in the hall chimed 4:30 and Adrien knew the hour of his doom was near.

“Kid, you’ve been staring at those shirts for two hours. Just pick one already. It doesn’t matter which, they’re exactly same.”

“They’re not the same, Plagg. That one’s lavender and that one’s mauve.”

“If you _really_ want to impress her, you should forgo the shirt entirely.”

“Plagg!”

“What? You’ve seen the pictures on her wall! You _know_ how she feels about you.”

“That’s not—she doesn’t—she’s just a fan! She probably had those posters up long before we even met! Besides, so what? It’s not that unusual, is it? I bet tons of people do it. Even my dad has pictures of me up all over the place.”

“First of all, as we have discussed on numerous occasions, your standards for normal behavior are severely misaligned. Second of all, Marinette is cute-creepy and your dad is scary-creepy. Totally different types of creepy. Though, to be fair, cute-creepy can become scary-creepy real quick, so you should probably keep an eye out for that.”

“Maybe she doesn’t think it’s a date?” Adrien speculated nervously as he picked up the lavender button down and ignored Plagg. “I said ‘date or something’ so maybe she thinks it’s…something. Oh…well, Nino texted the word date when he stole my phone. So even if I didn’t technically say it was definitely a date, she _thinks_ I said it was a date, which means it’s definitely a date…”

He did half the buttons, changed his mind, and began taking off the lavender shirt.

“Okay, okay, so it’s a date. I’m going on a date with Marinette. Who is my friend. Two friends going on a coffee date. That’s not so bad, right? It almost doesn’t even matter _why_ I asked her out, does it?”

_Of course it does._ He thought miserably as he shrugged the mauve shirt over his shoulders. _Because if I’m doing this for the wrong reasons, I’m going to screw it up. And since even **I** don’t understand **why** I’m doing this, I’m definitely going to screw it up. And if I screw it up, Marinette is going to hate me. And if Marinette hates me then…_

Then he probably wouldn’t be able to tease her anymore.

If Marinette hated him, then she wouldn’t want him anywhere near her. He wouldn’t be able to drape his arm over her shoulder or whisper in her ear to make her blush. Wouldn’t be allowed to hide behind her locker to surprise her in the mornings. Wouldn’t be permitted to grab her hand or ask her to dance or steal her food or lean in just a little too close. Wouldn’t be able to ask for her advice or count on her support or show up at the bakery and be greeted by warm smiles. It would go back to how it was on his first day of school, when she refused to even look at him, and Adrien didn’t think he could handle that again.

She _mustn’t_ hate him.

He _couldn’t_ go on this date.

Adrien’s phone beeped.

 

**ALERT: Take Shelter! Akumatized Supervillain Detected In The Vicinity Of…**

Adrien wondered if it was possible to send Hawk Moth a fruit basket.

 

***

Ladybug watched the purified butterfly toddle unevenly away from the nondescript rooftop. As it vanished into the sky she fought back the scorching, furious tears that threatened to pour down her mask.

Two hours.

The battle had lasted _two hours_ , despite her best attempts to end it swiftly. 5 o’clock had come and gone, Marinette’s chance at a date with Adrien going along with it.

She’d really been looking forward to that coffee.

Of course, she’d also been so nervous that she almost puked a couple times while getting ready, but she’d choked down her bile the same way she was currently choking down her tears. Through sheer force of will.

This had been her _moment._ Who cared _why_ he asked her (and Marinette had her suspicions, having discussed classic crank calls with Nino only the day before), the point was _she said yes._ Okay, technically Alya said yes after confiscating Marinette’s phone, but Adrien didn’t know that. This was a massive improvement over the last few times he’d asked her to hang out one on one and she got so nervous and tongue-tied that she accidentally turned him down. And he’d called it a date! _She_ didn’t call it a date, _he_ called it a date! That had to mean something, right?

Except…it probably didn’t mean anything now that she had stood him up for their one and only date.

Adrien probably hated her now.

“Hey…” A soothing rumble came from behind and a warm hand wrapped around her elbow. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Chat.” She replied, a little more harshly than she intended. She pulled away from him and swiped the back of her hand across her face. “It’s just…there was something else I wanted to do today.”

She turned around in time to see a shadow pass over his mask, and for a second she worried that he’d misconstrued her words as some kind of slight.

“Yeah.” He murmured sadly instead. “Me too.”

_Oh…_

Ladybug stared at Chat Noir as the twilight bathed the two superheroes in soft, rosy hues and the streetlights began to flicker to life down below. The early summer evening turned to magic around them and her pulse, completely without her permission, began to pick up speed. His hands clasped behind his back as he stared at his pointed toes and his tail lashed against the roof. He looked conflicted and frustrated and resigned, which was exactly how Marinette felt, and she was overwhelmed by a surge of sympathy so strong she almost burst into tears again.

“This sucks.” She croaked, not entirely sure what she meant or how he would interpret it.

His all-green eyes darted up and met hers. For a second, something sparked between them, some fleeting mutual understanding that was there and gone again before she had a chance to figure out what it meant.

“Totally.” He grinned, voice a little hoarse with emotion.

Ladybug snorted as he smirked. They began to giggle, then chuckle, and before their jewelry could start beeping the two superheroes were both doubled over, howling with laughter, tears staying in their eyes where they belonged.

It was the funniest joke in the world, even though neither of them knew the punch line.

“Wh-why are we laughing?”

“No idea!”

_Beep_

“Ah, Ladybug, your earring…”

“That’s my cue. Pound it!”

One fist bump later…

“Hey, Chat?”

“Yes, milady?”

“Thanks for cheering me up.”

“…Anytime.”

 

***

 

Adrien could barely stand to look at his phone, but the battle had taken him far from home and he needed to call his driver if he wanted to get back before Nathalie sent out a search party. Besides, Plagg was exhausted and there was a secret stash of camembert in the town car.

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried when he saw that Marinette hadn’t tried to contact him.

“Relax, kid.” Plagg muttered as he rested on Adrien’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“But what am I going to say to her?” Adrien whispered back, his voice catching in his throat. “She must be so angry…”

_Upset, maybe, but not angry._ Plagg thought.

Out loud, he said: “You’re a smart kid. You’ll figure something out.”

“I guess…”

But Adrien couldn’t think of a single plausible excuse for abandoning Marinette, so he called his driver instead and kept thinking while he waited. He still hadn’t come up with a solution when the car arrived ten minutes later. He sat in the back seat while Plagg inhaled an entire wheel of cheese, staring at his darkened phone screen. Guilt, fear and disappointment writhed in his belly, leaving him queasy and restless.

He hadn’t realized how much he wanted to go on the date with Marinette until it was too late.

And now she’d probably never give him another chance.

In a way, Adrien hoped that Marinette _was_ mad at him.

The alternative, that she felt rejected or worse, was too horrible to consider.

Adrien happened to be looking out the window, lost in his anxieties, when he thought he saw a girl with dark pigtails and pink pants duck into an alleyway while reaching into her extremely familiar handmade purse, but the car had moved on and turned the corner before he could be sure if he really saw her or not.

_Bzzzzzzzt_

Adrien yelped when his phone vibrated and Marinette’s name popped up on his screen. He gulped.

_Maybe I just shouldn’t answer it._

No…that would only make things worse.

“Hi, Marinette?”

_“Adrien! I’m so sorry!”_

“Yeah, no, look, it’s my fa—”

_“I’m so so so sorry Adrien! I didn’t mean to stand you up!”_

“Huh?”

_“I was—um—I was running errands with my grandmother and we sort of…lost track of time.”_

“O-oh…you were?”

_“O-of course! Wh-why? Do you have some reason to think otherwise?”_

“No…sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was accusing you of lying or anything.” Adrien was sweating buckets by this point. He was grateful she couldn’t see him right now; he must look a mess. “So that’s why you didn’t…yeah, I, um, I wondered but I figured it was probably something...uh…” _Liar! Liar! **You’re** the liar! She’s gonna figure it out! She’s gonna **hate** you! _“But! But Marinette, it’s really not a big deal, right? I’m…uh…I’m glad you had a good time with your grandmother. That sounds like a lot of fun.” There was an unmistakable note of relief in his voice. Even Plagg noticed it, and rolled his eyes at his human in exasperation.

_“Oh…yeah, I guess…”_

“Right. So…uh…I’ll see you on Monday, okay?”

_“…okay…”_

“Bye Marinette!”

_“…bye, Adrie—”_

Adrien allowed his phone to fall, dark and silent, to the empty seat beside him. He shut his eyes and exhaled a long sigh of relief and shame. When he opened his eyes, he found Plagg glaring at him from a few inches away.

“For the record…” Plagg hissed. “She may be a worse liar than you, but you’re _definitely_ the bigger arsehole.”

“…You think she was lying?” Adrien asked, not having the heart to argue with the second half of Plagg’s statement. It was too closely aligned with his own thoughts.

Plagg snorted with disgust and drifted back to his cheese. “What do _you_ think?”

“…I think I don’t want to wait until Monday to see her.”

“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting; the answer is _no._ ”

“Eat up, Plagg. As soon as we get home we’re going back out again.”

_Tikki is going to blame me for this._ Plagg thought mournfully.

_If Plagg’s right and Marinette was lying about why she missed our date…_ Adrien thought. _Then what was she doing on the outskirts of Paris during an akuma attack?_

 

***

 

Adrien hoped Marinette would be out on her balcony, but he didn’t dare to expect it. He didn’t feel like he had any right to expect anything of her after today’s debacles—first missing the date, and then being so weird on the phone when, really, she was saving his hide and he ought to have thanked her and told her not to worry and would she please consider rescheduling for as soon as possible—

Chat Noir hit the mental brakes.

As he said, he didn’t feel like he had any business _expecting_ things from her, not after today.

This conviction tripled when he arrived at the bakery and found Marinette right where he had shamefully hoped she’d be, on her balcony gazing forlornly at the skyline.

Almost as if she’d been waiting for him.

“Evening, princess.” He called softly as he landed on the roof behind her.

“Allo, Chat.” She replied without bothering to turn and look at him. Her voice sounded tired and lonely. Chat’s pointy ears drooped.

“Is everything alright?”

“Why? Are you worried about me or something?”

Before he could stop himself, Chat closed the distance between them and placed his hand on Marinette’s shoulder. He spun her around so that he could see her face. Her eyes and nose were red, but her cheeks were dry.

His claws tightened slightly. “Yeah. A little. You seem…upset about something.”

Marinette huffed a tiny sigh and pulled away. “I’ll be fine, Chat. I just…I had a disappointing day. How ‘bout you?”

Chat felt like a right heel, but he tried to smile dashingly for her sake. “My day was stressful. And a little disappointing. I’d much rather hear about your troubles than dwell on my own right now.”

“Oh, Chat…I don’t know…”

“I’m a good listener.” Chat said eagerly, ignoring the little voice in his head calling him a glutton for punishment. “When I get the chance.”

Marinette smiled at that, a tiny secret smile that he didn’t quite understand but enjoyed nonetheless. “Alright. But remember, you asked.”

Chat nodded eagerly, sitting down cross-legged in front of her and propping his chin on his hands, the very picture of a rapt audient. “I’m all ears.” He said, waggling his pointy appendages for effect. Marinette giggled, and his heart beat to the rhythm of her laughter, but then the wonderful sound faded and Marinette looked sad again.

“I…I had a date today. I was really looking forward to it, y’know?”

“You were?” Chat whispered, praying his voice didn’t sound as vulnerable to her as it did to him. It was one thing to hear something from Alya by way of Nino. It was another thing entirely to hear the words straight from Marinette herself. She was turned to the side, allowing him to trace her profile with his eyes. She looked so fragile, and yet so ferocious, as if she were carrying a heavy burden that she couldn’t put down even in this moment. His heart was hammering against his ribs by now, demanding to be set free and allowed to do as it pleased.

“Yeah.” Marinette’s smile turned sardonic. “But I didn’t go.”

“Why not?” _God,_ he hoped she didn’t notice anything off about his voice. To his own ears he sounded hoarse and desperate, as if he had just walked through a forest fire, but he couldn’t help it. He felt like a creep doing what he was doing—it was completely unfair and underhanded—but he needed to hear her answer more than he needed air.

He knew she wouldn’t lie to Chat Noir, even if she might lie to Adrien.

He didn’t really have anything to base that belief on, but he knew it in his bones.

“Something came up with a friend.” Marinette answered eventually, her tone cautious. “It took longer than I wanted it to. By the time I was able to…” She sighed, frowning deeply and rubbing her arms as if she were cold. It occurred to Chat that he could offer to warm her up, but before he could work up the courage, she said: “By the time I was able to contact my date, he’d lost interest.”

The fire in Chat’s belly turned into a blizzard.

_I’m sorry!_ He wanted to say. _I’m sorry for making you feel that way and I’m so sorry for lying to you! I really want to go on a date with you, and I really wish I had a better reason for asking you than Nino daring me. Also, I still feel really guilty about chewing your hair and letting you freak out about drooling on my arm even though I didn’t really mind all that much. Especially since I’m pretty sure that if I’d just told you the truth when we woke up in the library we could have laughed about it and everything would be normal right now and I wouldn’t keep thinking about it all. The. Time._

“I’m sure that’s not true.” He said aloud.

“It’s fine.” Marinette shrugged, her shoulders hunching slightly, making her look even smaller. “I don’t think he really meant to ask me out, anyway. I think he was put up to it or something.”

Oh fuck. She knew about the dare. Of course she knew about the dare, Marinette was _smart._

“…Sounds like that guy is a huge jerk, if he loses interest that easily.” Chat said bitterly.

Marinette shook her head. “No, he’s not. He was really nice about getting stood up. Just…” She glanced ruefully at him. “A little _too_ eager to forgive and forget, y’know? I think he was more relieved than anything else.”

Adrien felt like his insides were being juiced. Of course he’d realized that the phone call had gone poorly, he just hadn’t realized _how_ poorly until this moment.

The realization almost convinced him to keep his next question to himself, but not quite.

“What about this other friend that something came up with?” He asked, his gaze darting away from her silhouette as he looked at literally anything else. “Maybe they’re dating material.”

Marinette laughed nervously. “No…he’s a very important friend, don’t get me wrong, but that’s…that’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” Chat asked, scrambling to his feet so he could look her in the eyes. He didn’t care to analyze the urgency in his tone. “Is there some kind of problem with him? Is he a relative? An outlaw? Oh! Could he be Monsieur Heartbreaker himself?” Chat waggled his eyebrows suggestively, but it was hard to see the movement under his mask.

Adrien had repeatedly attempted, as a civilian and a superhero, to ascertain the identity of the scoundrel who had upset Marinette the night of the Glaciator attack. He only stopped because Nino pulled him aside one day and told him: _“Dude, first of all the only person responsible for how Marinette felt about the whole thing was Marinette. And second of all, I love you bro but if you don’t drop this I’m going to tell Nathalie about your secret porn cache.”_

Marinette smiled and turned to face him. With a start, Chat realized that they were only a few inches apart.

“You’ve got it all wrong.” She told him, sweet and sad like summer rain. “I’m the one who broke his heart.”

Oh.

So…

That meant…

_Marinette skipped our date to spend time with a very important friend who, at the very least, used to be in love with her…_

He wasn’t supposed to know that. Adrien was supposed to know that she’d been with her grandmother, everything was fine and he’d see her on Monday. He wasn’t supposed to know that he’d hurt her feelings because he’d been so relieved that he wouldn’t have to lie about where he’d been, or that she’d ditched him for someone who actually had the guts to tell her how much they cared.

“I doubt you’re capable of breaking hearts.” He sighed, ignoring the voice pounding on the walls of his psyche, screaming that this was wrong on so many levels.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marinette asked, torn between offense and amusement.

“Huh? Oh…oh! No, that’s not what I meant! I—uh…” Chat squashed his rising panic and did his best to smile disarmingly. “I only meant that it’s _you,_ Marinette. You probably let him down so easy that he ended up more in love with you than before.”

Marinette stared up at him, her eyes widening and a rosy blush spreading across her cheeks. Chat’s breath caught in his throat and he took another half step towards her. They were almost touching now.

Then Marinette started to laugh, a real laugh this time, and Chat’s heart soared. Even if what he was doing was wrong, it couldn’t be _that_ bad if she was laughing and blushing and smiling at him as if he were someone precious.

“Silly kitty.”

Adrien almost kissed her right then and there.

His head ducked and she froze, returning him to his senses before he could make contact. Self-loathing rose in his chest and dampened his ardor in an instant.

What kind of asshole would he have to be to kiss Marinette when she reminded him of Ladybug?

What the hell was wrong with him?

“I should go…” Chat whispered, not moving a muscle.

“Yeah…” Marinette sighed, looking disappointed. “Probably…”

He wanted to kiss her hand but he decided he’d pushed his paltry luck more than enough for one day.

“Cheer up, princess.” He whispered as he forced himself to turn away. “And for the record…I think you’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met.” His muscles tensed but before he could leap off the roof Marinette grabbed his tail and tugged him back.

“Chat Noir?” She said his name with stars in her eyes and strawberry cheeks.

_Irresistible._ He thought.

“Yeah?” He said.

“D-do you…do you want to get ice cream with me? Right now?”

“…” He stared at her for a few long seconds, long enough for awkwardness to tinge the air between them. “Like…like on a date?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, biting her lip with nerves but meeting his gaze steady and even. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

_Yes!_

“…I…I shouldn’t…it’s dangerous…if someone saw…”

Marinette smirked and his knees buckled.

“Don’t worry about that.” She told him smugly. “I have a plan.”

 


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

*******

 

Marinette had put a lot of thought into her Secret Superhero Date plan. She’d lost track of the number of sleepless nights she had spent going over the details in her mind. In order for this to work, certain precautions would have to be made. As a superhero she couldn’t ethically ask anyone to take these precautions, but as a civilian she was well within her rights to volunteer. They would have to be careful, even more so than usual, but Marinette was determined to give Chat Noir the kind of date he deserved.

She was going to sweep him off his feet even if it was the last thing she ever did.

Marinette told Chat to wait on her balcony while she collected the necessary supplies. She returned a few minutes later dressed all in black, a balaclava in one hand and large black drawstring bag in the other. Inside the bag was a mini flashlight, a change purse, a few sheets of origami paper, three hand-rolled beeswax candles and a lighter.

“If anyone catches us we can say that I’m a robber and you’re letting me enjoy one last meal as a free woman before turning me over to the authorities.” She explained the mask. Chat nodded along, intrigued.

“It might be harder to fool Andre, though.”

“We’re not going to Andre’s.” Marinette winked. “I know a place to get ice cream where no one will ask any questions.”

 

***

 

 “Let me.” Marinette said firmly when Chat moved to jump through a first floor window that had been left half-open. “You’re a superhero. You shouldn’t be breaking and entering.”

“And you should?” He teased her.

“I’m a civilian.” She replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “It doesn’t matter if I sully my hands with illicit deeds. We need to keep you pure.”

He chuckled at that and let her be the one who snuck into the building. She slipped the change purse out of the bag and into her pocket before hopping through the window. The halls of Françoise Dupont High School were dark and empty this time of night. No one else was around, even the security guard had gone home, and so it was easy to slip into the building undetected. The familiar corridors were made mysterious and menacing by the gloomy silence, ordinary objects like chairs and water fountains somehow altered by the solitude. She headed for the vending machines near the gym, each muffled footstep striking a discordant note, and returned a few minutes later with an armful of ice cream sandwiches. Chat laughed again when he saw how many she had purchased.

“Are you expecting more people to join us?” He joked.

“Nope. Tonight is just the two of us.” She smirked. “So I got three for me, and eight for you.”

“You’re spoiling me, princess.”

“That’s the general idea. Here, catch!” She threw the sandwiches down to him and slung her leg over the windowsill, dropping to the ground with practiced grace.

“Are we eating in or taking these to go?” He asked.

“I have a certain spot in mind.”

“No offense, but it might be challenging to carry you _and_ the ice cream.”

“That’s what the bag’s for, kitty.”

“Ah.”

Marinette carried the bag with her surreptitious dating tools and their ice cream, and Chat Noir carried Marinette on his back, her legs wrapped tight around his waist and her laughter echoing in his ears. She directed him to a rooftop he had never visited before, in an old industrial neighborhood near the waterfront. A shuttered warehouse and an abandoned church stood back to back and sandwiched in the narrow gap between them was the ancient, twisted, stone-and-iron remains of whatever had been there before.

“It was either a light bulb factory or an absinthe distillery, I can’t remember which.” Marinette explained chattily as they landed on the roof of the abandoned church and she pulled him towards a gap in the stone wall separating the lapsed house of worship from the defunct house of industry. “Either way, there was a big explosion and most of the building was destroyed. What’s left isn’t much, and the only way to reach it is from this church roof, buuut…” She smirked as she stepped through the gap in the wall and offered her hand to help him through after her. His jaw dropped as he stepped through the shabby hole and saw what awaited him on the other side. Marinette’s smirk grew at his delighted expression. “Ta-daaa!” She cried, sweeping her arm through the air and bowing as if she were the master of ceremony for the evening, which in some ways she was. “The best view in Paris that _you_ didn’t already know about!”

Chat Noir found himself standing in a bare stone room with only three walls. The fourth had crumbled away, exposing a view of overgrown parking lots leading down to the waterfront. This section of the Seine was wide and almost entirely empty at this time of night. The lights from the towers across the river twinkled like galaxies in the ripples. The defunct parking lots between the buildings and the water had been overtaken by vegetation—blue grass, thorny shrubs, dandelions, and jasmine growing wild in the shattered concrete. The perfume of the flowers wafted on the breeze that drifted across the river, filling the barren stone room with promises of sunshine and softness. Ivy framed the crumbled wall, thick and lush and picturesque. The effect was that of standing on a threshold and looking out upon a secret world.

It was magical.

“How do you know I haven’t seen this view before?” Chat asked teasingly.

“Because this room isn’t visible from above, and the ivy blocks the view from the river, so you can’t see the room if you’re just passing by. You couldn’t have possibly found it on your own. And more importantly, no one will find us here.” Marinette smiled as she began pulling items out of her bag. “The only way to get here is if you already know _how_ to get here, and you are only the third person to be privy to that information.” She pressed the beeswax candles into the stone floor and lit them with the plastic lighter. “I’m the second. The first person is the friend who told me about it, and he’s also the one who kicked the hole in the wall so he could get in via the church roof.”

“I see.” Chat briefly wondered if this friend was the same friend she’d gone to see earlier, but he swiftly shoved that thought back to the deepest darkest recesses of his mind where it belonged. “You’ve got this all figured out, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Her answer reverberated through his body as she met his gaze dead on, candlelight flickering in her bluebell eyes. “I do.”

Adrien gulped.

“Are you sure?” Chat asked, reaching deep to find the strength to tease her in a normal-ish sounding voice. “Because I think the ice cream is melting.”

They sat cross-legged on the floor and shared the ice cream sandwiches, chatting about silly things like favorite popsicle flavors and weird late night infomercials. The conversation flowed naturally, the company easy and familiar. Adrien was surprised at how comfortable he felt, given the extraordinary circumstances and the ethical boundaries he was tiptoeing around. But the night was warm and the girl was bright, and his doubts and concerns drifted away on the jasmine-scented wind. He liked spending time with Marinette, he liked talking to her about nothing in particular, he liked listening to her in turn, and by all appearances she enjoyed him as well. Where was the harm?

“You know what I really love about ice cream sandwiches?” Chat said suddenly as he polished off his fourth frozen treat.

“What do you really love about ice cream sandwiches?” Marinette played along with a tiny smirk.

“They’re like an oreo, only they’re ice cream and they’re better. They’re like the ice cream cake of oreos.”

“You know there is such a thing as Oreo ice cream cake, right?”

“Shhh, don’t ruin my analogy with your cold hard facts.”

“Have you ever tried icebox cake?”

“What’s that?”

“Cookies and whipped cream.”

“Like…cookies n’ cream ice cream cake?”

“No, like chocolate wafer cookies stacked with whipped cream and then left overnight in the refrigerator so the wafers turn soft and it’s like a cake.”

“That sounds…weird.”

“Ohhhhh, Chat. Oh wow. Just you wait, Chat Noir. One of these days I’ll make it for you. It’s going to _blow your mind._ ”

“I’ll believe it when I eat it, princess.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“I’m pretty sure you challenged me first.”

“It’s on now.”

And on it went. Marinette did most of the talking, leading Chat towards conversation topics that were light and easy to bow out of if he felt like he was revealing too much identifying information. They never talked about anything important, nothing too personal. He wished he could share more, but they both knew that wasn’t safe. He appreciated her consideration. It was striking how she instinctively predicted the unique needs of a superhero and adjusted her behavior to suit those needs, but it wasn’t exactly a surprise. He’d never met anyone as considerate as Marinette.

When all that remained of the ice cream was a pile of sticky crumpled wrappers on the floor between them, Chat lay on his back and crossed his arms behind his head with a contented sigh. Between the sugar, the ambiance and the company, he was feeling almost giddy. He knew this couldn’t last, so he closed his eyes and tried to memorize the moment by feel alone.

Marinette smiled fondly and pulled the origami papers out of her bag. She still had a few more surprises up her sleeve. Her fingers moved swiftly, confidently, following a pattern of folds she’d practiced a million times. Origami roses were complex, but she often made them to use as decorations in the pastry display cases at the bakery. By the time Chat Noir opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her curiously a few minutes later, she had three blooming red-and-purple roses in her hands.

“For you.” She said, holding out her cupped palms to offer him the gift. He sat up immediately, his eyes wide and his lips drawn tight. For a second this reaction startled and alarmed her, and she worried she might have gone too far, but when he reached out and plucked the paper flowers from her hands as if they were the most delicate, precious things he’d ever seen, her anxiety turned to amusement. He cradled the roses to his chest, examining each one with reverence.

“Chat?”

“I—uh…thank you…they’re beautiful…”

“Are you blushing?”

“N-no!” Adrien was lying again. He was blushing so hard he was certain that even his toes were red. But Chat Noir was supposed to be suaver than that. “But really, princess. Ice cream, candles _and_ roses? Miss Dupain-Cheng, you’re trying to seduce me…aren’t you?”

“The Graduate?” Marinette giggled at his reference.

“Well, unlike you, I didn’t have time to prepare any gifts, so I’ll have to dazzle you with my encyclopedic knowledge of cinematic classics.” He donned his best Chat smirk and was relieved to feel his blush fade as the conversation doggy-paddled back to safer waters. He placed the flowers on the stone floor beside him, far enough away that he wouldn’t accidentally squash them.

“Encyclopedic, huh?”

“Go ahead, test me.”

“People used to stare at fires. Now they watch TV. We need to see moving images, especially after dinner.” Marinette quoted one of her favorite films.

“Day for Night. Are you seriously questioning my Truffaut expertise?” Chat recognized her reference immediately and returned it with one of his own. “I have no socks left around these holes.”

“The 400 Blows. Perhaps it is _you_ who ought not question _my_ Truffaut expertise, young grasshopper.”

This continued for about five minutes, until they were suddenly interrupted by a blast of noise coming from the abandoned church. Chat tensed, bracing for battle, but Marinette soothed him with a hand on his arm.

“I think it’s my friend’s band.” She said, cocking her head to the side and listening to the jumbled notes of instruments being tuned and amplifiers being adjusted. “Yeah…sometimes they use the church to practice. Sorry, I had no idea they’d be here tonight. They won’t notice us, though.”

“You mean the friend who…” Chat trailed off, letting her think what she wanted to think since there was no way he could finish the question he had started asking. _The friend you stood me up for earlier?_

“The friend who told me about this place, yeah.” Marinette nodded. Which neither confirmed nor denied his unspoken suspicion. “He comes up here sometimes to write music.”

“Are you sure that’s music?” Chat winced, his ears flattening as some sound equipment let loose a particularly ear-blasting shriek.

“They’re still getting set up. Pretty soon they’ll—ah. There they go.”

The noise changed to something that was clearly identifiable as music, the warbling notes of a song he thought he recognized but could not place wafting through the broken church windows and up into the night sky.

It was obvious what happened next.

“May I have this dance?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to step on your paws.”

“Nonsense.” The music swelled as Chat Noir took Marinette by the hand and gently pulled her towards him. “I happen to know that you are an excellent dancer.”

“Oh really?” Marinette asked as she spun away and twirled back into his arms, a crooked smile on her face. “And how would you know a thing like that?”

“Ah…feline intuition?”

“A likely story.”

Music, moonshine and Marinette’s smile. It was a magical evening.

But no matter how magical an evening, sooner or later (depending on the amount and nature of the magic involved) all evenings must come to an end. When the bells struck midnight, the candles were snuffed and the wrappers were cleared and the paper roses were carefully folded and pressed into Chat Noir’s pocket.

“I guess I should get the princess back home before her carriage turns into a pumpk—”

“Chat, I like silly romance just as much as you do—no, that’s a lie—I like silly romance _almost_ as much as you do, but there’s a reasonable limit and I feel like a Cinderella reference is going to push us right over the edge into gratuitous cheese so maybe…don’t.”

“…fair enough.”

 

***

 

“Marinette, I…”

“It’s okay, Chat Noir. I know. This can’t happen again.”

“It’s not that I didn’t—or rather, it’s not that I don’t—”

“We want, and we would, but we can’t. I get it, Chat. Believe me. I _get_ it.”

“…God, Marinette…I wish…you’re amazing. You know that, right?”

“Right back atcha, kitty cat. And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For always being here to cheer me up.”

“It was my honor, princess.”

“Good night, Chat Noir.”

“Sweet dreams, Marinette.”

Afterwards, Adrien wondered if he should have kissed her goodnight.

 

***

Who was he?

Who was this so-called friend, this alleged hanger-on, this acquaintance of implied significance? Who was this schmuck, this schmoe, this diabolical date-thief?

Who, on earth, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s mystery guy?

By the time Adrien woke up Monday morning the twinkling afterglow from the date had faded and he was left wilting under a fog of anxiety and halfhearted jealousy.

It wasn’t like he _deserved_ to go on a date with Marinette, not after all the lies, but he had definitely enjoyed himself when he got the chance. The whole thing had gone far better than he ever would have hoped, even with the restrictions his superhero persona had placed on them. He wanted to go out with her again, even though he knew that wasn’t possible.

At least…not as Chat Noir…

But…that boat had probably sailed for Adrien. Marinette knew about the dare and she knew he’d been relieved when things didn’t work out yesterday. There was no way she would agree to try again. He would count himself lucky if she was still speaking to him.

_At least she still doesn’t know that I chewed on her hair in my sleep._

Plagg observed quietly as Adrien got ready for school, trepidation building in his belly. He didn’t like the feeling. It was too similar to hunger for his taste. But he knew from experience that nothing he said would derail Adrien from his brooding, not once he really got going like this, so he said nothing as Adrien packed up his bag and headed out the door.

It kind of worked.

“Plagg?” Adrien whispered as they were driven to school. “You’ve been unusually quiet this morning. What’s up?”

Plagg sighed. If only there wasn’t a magical binding preventing him from revealing Ladybug’s true identity, he could end all their misery right now.

“Why can’t you just leave Marinette alone?” He muttered glumly instead. “Has it ever occurred to you that she might have enough on her plate without you piling on?”

“She’s my friend.” Adrien replied tersely, his gaze returning to the window. “And I’m worried about her.”

“She’s a smart girl. She can take care of herself.”

“So? I can still be worried about my friends when they’re hiding something, even if they’re smart.” Adrien frowned. “I’m not _trying_ to be an asshole.”

“I know that, kid. You’re just naturally drawn that way.”

“Har har.”

“Just…promise me you won’t go out of your way to make things more complicated, okay?”

“When have I ever—”

“Adrien.”

“Fine. I promise not to go out of my way to make things more complicated. Are you happy?”

“I’m never happy.”

“There’s camembert in the side pocket of my bag.”

“Okay, _now_ I’m happy.”

 

***

 

Marinette was a bundle of nerves by the time she got to school that morning. She wasn’t nervous about seeing Adrien, exactly. She had already decided to pretend that nothing had happened—after all, nothing _had_ happened and he was just _fine_ with that apparently, and if he was fine then so was she. But she dreaded what Alya would say, especially since Marinette had been ignoring all her text messages.

Sure enough, Alya was waiting when Marinette arrived and she immediately dragged her best friend to the bathroom and demanded to know what happened on the date.

“I…didn’t make it.”

“What the hell do you mean you didn’t make it?!”

“I…I was running errands with my grandmother and we kind of…lost track of time.” Marinette winced, unable to meet Alya’s eyes.

_“What?!”_

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal! Marinette! After all the work I put into making this happen?!”

“I’m sorry…”

Alya took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. “No, no, I’m sorry for yelling. I know how badly you wanted to go on that date. What did Adrien say?”

“Oh, uh…he was…he was fine with it.”

“…what.”

“Yeah, he sounded relieved when I talked to him on the phone. Alya, maybe—”

“WHAT?!”

“Alya, please calm down—”

“No I will _not_ calm down! That spoiled little _twerp_ how _dare_ he! I swear to Lois Lane, if that boy doesn’t get his shit together soon I’ll—I’ll—I dunno, I’ll think of something really creative and—”

“Alya!” Marinette’s gaze turned flinty and her voice went hard, snapping Alya out of her tirade. “Adrien isn’t interested in me. Please stop forcing us into these situations. I know you and Nino mean well but—”

“You’re wrong.”

“You _don’t_ mean well?”

“No, you’re wrong about Adrien.” Alya pulled out her phone and opened a group chat titled Secret Garden. “Look at this picture of the two of you in the library the other day and tell me that boy isn’t interested.”

Marinette looked at the picture and immediately turned the color of a ripe plum.

What she saw in that image was a worn out young couple, cuddled together and perfectly content. She had fallen asleep using his arm as a pillow and he had draped himself over her. They curled together, their faces mostly hidden from the camera, and if she hadn’t known better Marinette wouldn’t have recognized herself. The camera had caught the upper half of Adrien’s expression and though she couldn’t see much, from what she could see he looked…

“Happy…” Marinette whispered. Alya’s shoulders sagged with relief.

“You see? He’s _interested,_ Marinette. He just…has no idea what he’s doing. Like…ever. At all. I’m actually kind of worried about him in terms of, like…life stuff.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Can I see that for a second?”

“Sure.” Alya handed her the phone. Marinette held it up close to her face and squinted.

“Is he…is he chewing on my hair?”

 

***

 

In the other bathroom on the opposite side of the locker room, Nino had Adrien cornered in a similar conversation.

“Why didn’t you reschedule?”

“I told you—it didn’t come up.”

“Yeah, but _why_ though?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Nino.”

Nino crossed his arms and scowled. “I _mean,_ did you chicken out or is there something you’re not telling me?”

_Both._ Adrien though glumly.

Out loud, he said: “Nino, I don’t know what to tell you. It just didn’t work out. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”

“ _Dude._ I know you’re not as chill about all this as you’re pretending to be. Something’s bothering you, I can tell. Just spit it out already.”

Adrien distracted himself by washing his hands even though he hadn’t used the facilities. “Nino…it’s not…it’s not my secret to tell…”

“Well, now you _have_ to tell me.”

Inside Adrien’s bag, unseen by the two humans, Plagg’s ears perked up.

_Kid,_ the tiny god thought as loudly as he could, _please don’t say what I think you’re about to say!_

“…I think…I think Marinette might already be involved with someone else.”

_You’re killing me, kid. You’re just straight-up cold-blooded **murdering** me over here. By the time you’re through with me, there won’t be anything left for Tikki to blame._

 

 

 


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

*******

“Marinette, would you like to get coffee with me?”

The words were out of his mouth before he knew what he was saying.

Why did that keep happening to him?

“Huh?”

It was too late to take it back. Classes were over, he had a rare free afternoon, he was standing with his friend on the sidewalk outside their school and he had just asked her out for coffee.

_Again._

“N-now?” Marinette blinked owlishly up at him.

“Yeah.” Adrien tried to strangle his blooming flush and smile charmingly instead. “There’s a café down the street.”

“Uh…sure…”

He had just asked his friend out for coffee and she had said yes. Now they were walking to the café. Alert: this was happening.

If Adrien was confused by his impulse decision, it was nothing compared to Marinette’s confusion. They’d barely spoken to each other all day, and she’d been perfectly content to dismiss Alya’s photographic evidence as a trick of the light, but now he was asking her out _again?_ What on earth was going on?

“Um…Adrien? If this is about what happened this weekend, you don’t need to feel obligated to ask me out again or anything. I’m the one who messed up so—”

“That’s not it.” Adrien interjected swiftly. “I just…I wanted to…um…”

Marinette sighed and stopped walking. She was so tired of letting him jerk her around. One second he was refusing to look at her, the next second he was asking her out for coffee, and then the second after that he couldn’t string a full sentence together. He was acting like…like…

Well. He was acting like Marinette.

Which could only mean…

_No!  Stop that!_ Marinette fiercely squashed her thought. _That’s how he reels you in! Just wait, next he’s gonna say—_

“I so rarely get a free afternoon, I thought it would be fun to get coffee with my friend, that’s all.”

_Bingo._

But they _were_ friends, even if her gut was twisting into knots, and so Marinette smiled at Adrien and said, “Alright. But if we’re doing this, we should really go all out. What else have you always wanted to do but never had a free afternoon and someone to do it with?”

Adrien chuckled nervously as they approached the café, but Marinette had already warmed up to her idea and wouldn’t allow him to laugh the question off.

“I’ll make you a deal.” She told him as he opened the door for her. “If you pick one activity, I’ll bring you a whole bag of croissants tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed as they found their seats and ordered their coffee.

“Sure you do. Just say the first thing that pops into your head.” Marinette smirked as two porcelain cups of espresso were placed in front of them. “Three, two, one, go.”

“…” Adrien’s face suddenly turned red. “I can’t think of anything.”

Marinette laughed so hard the couple sitting at the table next to them gave her odd looks. “You’re such a bad liar, Adrien.”

“Am I?” He replied weakly, but he couldn’t help but smile along with her. “How about this. I’ll tell you my activity, if you answer one question honestly.”

An alarm bell went off in the back of Marinette’s mind, but she decided to ignore it and play along.

“Okay, _one_ question.”

“Did you do anything fun this weekend?”

She immediately regretted not listening to that little mind bell.

Marinette had a few choices. She could lie and say she hadn’t done anything particularly memorable, but then she’d be a) lying to Adrien, which was bad, and b) making herself look like a pathetic lump who didn’t have anything going on in her life, which was also bad. She could tell the truth, that she had gone on a date with her close friend and professional colleague Chat Noir, wildly in love with him and why not hand her miraculous over to Hawk Moth too? Yeah, _that_ wasn’t happening.

Marinette ended up going with her third option, a mix of truth and falsehood that was hopefully convincing enough to keep her secrets secure without further damaging the fragile trust she and Adrien were starting to build.

“Yeah, actually. I hung out with a friend.”

Adrien could have let it go. Deep down, he knew he should leave well enough alone. But despite all his better instincts, he couldn’t stop himself from asking: “Anyone I know?”

“Oh…” Marinette shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “Adrien, I’m not sure…”

“Did you have fun?”

“On my date?”

“So it _was_ a date then.”

Marinette tried to say something, confirm or deny or deflect or _something,_ but all that came out when she opened her mouth was a flustered squawk so loud it nearly propelled her out of her chair and into the disapproving couple next to them. But what else was she supposed to do? What was even _happening_ right now?!

Adrien seemed to realize he was pushing too hard, and he tried to ease up a bit.

“I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean—I only meant—dammit…” Adrien groaned and hid his face in his hands. “I’m sorry Marinette. I don’t know what I meant or why I said that. I have no idea what half the things I say actually mean most of the time. I just...I don’t want you to be sad.”

Marinette stared at him for a few minutes before saying quietly, “I had a lot of fun.”

Adrien peeked at her through his fingers. “You did?” He asked, his voice small and vulnerable.

“Of course.” She managed to smile at him. “It’s really sweet that you’re worried about me, but I’m okay. I’m not going to be akumatized. Besides, _you’re_ the one who got stood up. I should be the one apologizing.”

“I’m sorry, Mari—”

“Adrien, _please_ let it go, okay? I’m fine. We’re fine.”

“We are?”

“We will be once you stop agonizing over this.” Marinette was starting to get annoyed. “I swear, sometimes you’re worse than Ch—than my friend.”

Adrien stared at Marinette as his hands dropped from his face and returned to their clenched position on his knees. Was it selfish of him to wish that she was a little less fine than she claimed to be? Of course it was, especially since he _knew_ she hadn’t been fine the night of their date. He _knew_ he’d hurt her feelings. And he was _trying_ to set it right, but he couldn’t figure out how to do that without revealing that he knew more than he ought to.

Okay, so Marinette wasn’t mad at him, at least not outwardly. That was good. And she was willing to admit that her adventure with Chat Noir was a date and an enjoyable one at that. That was…better than good. A _lot_ better than good. Happy, cheery, belly-filled-with-light and ribcage-filled-with-thunder kind of better than good.

And maybe she really _was_ fine. Maybe, with that other guy around, she wasn’t too concerned with Adrien and Chat Noir.

Which wasn’t a problem. Adrien was totally cool with that. He had Ladybug, and their weird complicated important relationship that he wouldn’t give up for the world, and he was the one running around asking Marinette out on dates willy-nilly. Who was he to judge if she had someone?

Just because _he_ was a mess didn’t mean _she_ had to be.

Wasn’t that his whole dynamic with Ladybug? And that worked out pretty well for him when it came to fighting supervillains. It seemed reasonable to assume the same would hold true for dating.

Oh god, was _that_ what he was doing? Was he trying to date Marinette for _real?_ Not on a dare and not on a whim but because he, Adrien Agreste, wanted to date Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Because he wanted to spend more time with her, a _lot_ more time with her, and desperately wanted her to do the same? Because he didn’t want that fleeting moment to be the only time he ever woke up to the sight of her sleeping face? What about Ladybug?

“Okay, your turn.” Marinette announced suddenly, pulling Adrien out of his mental and emotional nosedive.

“Huh?”

“Your activity. Tell me.” She urged him.

“Fine.” He sighed. “But don’t laugh.”

Marinette smashed her lips tight and mimed locking them shut, throwing the imaginary key over her shoulder.

“You know the metro station two blocks from here?”

She nodded.

“There’s…um…well, there’s a photo booth and—never mind, this was a ridiculous idea—”

“No!” Marinette cut him off, a faint blush creeping across her expression as her eyes softened. They were wearing matching complexions as they began to leave the café and head towards the metro station. “I’d love to do that with you, Adrien. I really, _really_ would.”

Their hands and fingers brushed against each other a couple times as they walked, but neither made a move, much to the frustration of their hidden kwamis.

 

***

 

Later that night, Adrien stared at the strip of black and white photographs and wondered if this counted as a first, second or third date.

Each of the three squares was a flash, a moment frozen in ink. In the first they both stared directly to the left of the camera, their smiles uncertain as they squashed into the booth as tight as they were able and tried to find the right spot to stare at. In the second they had given up on the camera and chosen to stare at each other, Marinette giggling helplessly as Adrien pulled a silly face. The third picture was a blurry mess of limbs. Adrien had gotten swept up in the moment and tried to kiss Marinette on the cheek, but she’d freaked out as soon as his lips made contact and almost broke the booth in her hurry to escape. When the camera flashed, he’d been trying to catch her as she tried to fight her way through the curtain using her teeth. He might have been hurt at her urge to flee if it hadn’t been so funny.

Only, then they each took their photo strip and said good bye and went their separate ways. And Adrien didn’t like that. He didn’t want to be lying here alone in his room, with no one to talk to and nothing to do. He wanted to visit Marinette, or he wanted Marinette to come visit him. He wanted to spend all his time with her. It was torture, desiring something so strongly when he couldn’t even put it into words. Couldn’t explain it to her or to Plagg or to Nino or to himself, even. Nothing had changed. She was the same Marinette she had always been. Only now she was the Marinette who made all his dreams come true, who fed him ice cream and gave him roses and took him dancing in her secret place. She’d taken all his reasons why it couldn’t happen and turned them into dust. And in return, he lied to her, he tricked her, he manipulated her to burnish his own ego. He _knew_ she couldn’t tell him about going on a date with Chat Noir, and yet he still pressed her for details. He even guilted her into being as honest as she possibly could have been under the circumstances.  And why? Because he was afraid that the other guy had left more of an impression? Because he wanted to hear her say that she liked going on a date with him? He was putting both of them at risk, and he was violating Marinette’s trust in the process. It wasn’t _intentional,_ but at this point did that really matter? He knew what he was doing, knew that it was wrong and irresponsible, but he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted…he wanted…

“I miss Ladybug.” Adrien whispered, closing his eyes against the force of his bellowing emotions and whirling thoughts.

Plagg was prevented from telling Adrien that he’d just spent the entire day with Ladybug by the magical binding that prevented him from revealing another kwami’s owner, so he went into the bathroom and screamed into a dirty sock instead.

 

***

 

Marinette was in the middle of getting ready for bed when she suddenly froze and turned to look at Tikki with a stricken expression.

“Uh-oh.” Tikki finished her after-dinner macaron in one bite and buzzed over to her Chosen. “What’s wrong?”

“Tikki, if I have to choose between Adrien and Chat Noir…” Marinette whispered, shaking her head. “I don’t think I can do it. I know Chat is interested but it isn’t safe. And with Adrien, at least I’m not putting anyone else’s life in jeopardy, but I never know where I stand with him. What am I going to do?”

Tikki sighed. It was a fair question, unless you knew that Chat Noir and Adrien were the same person in which case there was no reasonable response to such an absurd query.

“Follow your heart, Marinette, and everything will work out in the end.”

“Tikki…” Marinette placed her hairbrush on her bedside table and turned to more fully face her kwami. “That’s not real advice. Follow your heart? What does that even mean? Nothing, it means nothing. If I wanted empty platitudes, I could go ask my mom what she thinks about my love life. I’m asking _you_ because I need _actual_ advice before something bad happens.”

“Okay. You want real advice? Here goes.” Tikki crossed her arms and flicked her antennae. “This is a mess. This is a huge, sticky mess and honestly neither of you seem particularly interested in cleaning it up. So I say, go for it. Wallow in the messiness that is life.”

“ _That’s_ your advice?” Marinette asked, aghast. “Just go with the flow?”

“Yeah.” Tikki shrugged. “In order to know how to respond to these kinds of situations, a person needs to draw on their life experience. You don’t know what to do, because your life experiences up to this point haven’t equipped you for this situation. Which is fine! The whole point of being young is to create those experiences so that you can learn from them and grow as a person.”

“But what if something bad happens?”

“Then you’ll learn what not to do for the next time.”

“The _next_ time?” Marinette flopped back on her bed with a groan. “I don’t think there’s going to be a _next_ time. I think one weird messy love triangle is more than enough for me. Actually, it’s more like a love square than a triangle. Or maybe it’s more like a hexagon. Or an octagon. Oooh! Or a decahedron!”

“Well, now you’re just naming shapes.”

Before Marinette could respond, their conversation was interrupted by her mother calling her name from the bottom of the stairs and reminding Marinette that she had agreed to take out the trash before she went to bed. Marinette left Tikki to her own devices in the bedroom and, slipping a pink sweater over her pajamas, padded downstairs to finish her chores. She lugged the heavy kitchen garbage down the steps and out the back door into the alley behind the bakery where the dumpster stood. The night air was brisk despite the oncoming summer and Marinette shivered as she pushed the lumpy plastic bag into the receptacle.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up and Marinette looked around the darkened alley. The streetlights didn’t reach this far and it was difficult to see in the shadows, but a whisper of fabric confirmed her suspicion that she was not alone.

“Hello?” She called. “Who’s there?”

“Marinette Dupain Cheng?” Replied an unfamiliar voice as a tall man in a black suit she’d never seen before in her life appeared out of the inky blackness as if by magic. “I need you to come with me.”

“I don’t think so.” Marinette told him as she backed towards the door.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

The man in the suit sighed and pulled a slim silver cylinder out of his pocket. The doorknob was in the palm of Marinette’s hand but before she could turn it the man pressed on a button on the cylinder, there was a flash of light and everything went black.

 

***

 

Adrien dreamed about two cartoon mice having an almighty row, their squeaky voices shaking the rafters with the force of their fury.

Then he woke up and realized that the squeaky mice were in fact two kwamis screaming at each other from opposite sides of his bedroom.

“IF YOU HADN’T INSISTED ON FOLLOWING THE RULES THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!”

“WELL, IF YOU KNOW OF A WAY TO BREAK THE MAGICAL BINDING WITHOUT KILLING OUR CHOSEN IN THE PROCESS, I’M ALL EARS PLAGG!”

“Plagg?” Adrien sat up straight. “What’s going on?”

It was still dark, too dark to see the kwamis clearly. Adrien glanced at his phone quickly and learned that it was still the wee hours of the morning and daylight was still a long way off.

Plagg swooped down to his Chosen, intending to tell him everything, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was bubbles instead of words. The tiny red kwami he’d been arguing with shook their head and came to join them on the bed.

“Hello Chat Noir. I’m Tikki. We need to talk.”

“Tikki?” Adrien frowned. “Wait…you’re Ladybug’s kwami, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Something terrible has happened.”

Adrien immediately jumped out of bed and began racing around his room, trying to get dressed as quickly as possible. “Tell me everything.” He ordered. The kwamis winced.

“Well, that’s kind of the thing.” Plagg sighed. “We can’t.”

Adrien froze and turned to glare at them. “The only reason Tikki would be here is if Ladybug is in danger.”

“Yeah…” Tikki acknowledged slowly. “But it’s not really about her being Ladybug so much as it is about…uh…who she is outside of Ladybug? And also who you are? And maybe there are some things you both should have been more careful about?”

“Huh?”

“Okay, so it’s like this…” Plagg decided to give explaining a try. “She’s been kidnapped by some guy.”

_“What?!”_

“I don’t know who he was.” Tikki flitted anxiously through the air above Adrien’s head. “I looked out the window just in time to see him putting her in a car and driving away. She looked unconscious.”

“But if you’re here, then that means…”

“Yeah.” Plagg nodded. “She wasn’t exactly wearing her work clothes when this all went down, if you know what I mean.”

Adrien, who was half way out of his pajamas, knew exactly what Plagg meant and it didn’t bode well for any of them. He turned to look at Tikki.

“If I go to rescue her now…” He said slowly. “I’m going to know who she is.”

“Yes.” Tikki acknowledged, her tone mournful. “I’m so sorry, Adrien, but we don’t have a choice.”

“I…I can’t do that to her…”

“Kid…”

“I said no, Plagg! Ladybug doesn’t want me to know, and I’m going to respect that if it is the last thing I do.”

“That’s all very well and good.” Tikki snapped. “But she’s been taken by someone who we don’t know and don’t understand. Right now, the three of us are the only people aware of what has happened. Her parents are still asleep and there were no witnesses. If we involve anyone else, especially the police, they’re going to ask questions that we don’t want people asking. You’re the only one who can help her now. Ladybug and I both really value how much you respect her boundaries, but this is an emergency. She needs Chat Noir.”

Plagg snorted derisively. “What happened to letting them make their own choices?”

“HE KNOCKED HER OUT WITH SOME KIND OF BIZARRE METAL MAGIC I’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND PUT HER IN A CAR, PLAGG! WE’RE OUT OF TIME!”

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO YELL AT ME! I’VE BEEN SAYING WE SHOULD NUDGE THEM ALONG FROM THE VERY START!”

Adrien ignored the screaming kwamis as he finished pulling on his pants.

This was his fault. He wasn’t sure how or why, but this was his fault. He’d been taking so many risks lately; it was only a matter of time before his bad luck caught up with him. But why Ladybug? When danger came, why hadn’t it come for him? Or, gods of creation and destruction forbid, Marinette? Why _Ladybug_ of all people?

Unless…

_She doesn’t want me to know._

Adrien made a conscious decision that, at least for the moment, it didn’t matter what Ladybug’s real name was. Who cared about their identities, about the risks they’d taken, the mistakes they’d made, the unmade promises and the unbreakable commitments. She needed him, and come hell or high water, he was going to be there.

“YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR HAPPINESS! YOU JUST WANT TO CAUSE CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION!”

“WELL, _DUH!_ HAVE YOU _MET_ ME?!”

“Claws out.”

Chat Noir’s transformation finally put an end to Plagg and Tikki’s screaming match. Once he was suited up, the young superhero turned to Tikki.

“Do you know where he took her?”

“Yes.” Tikki nodded. “I’m not sure where it is, but I can sense her. Follow me.”

 

***

 

Marinette had no idea what was going on, but she was sure of two things.

Number one: the man in the suit was just a man. He wasn’t a supervillain. He hadn’t been akumatized. She didn’t think there was any magic involved here whatsoever.

This was new for Marinette. She’d faced more than her fair share of baddies in her young life, but at least the rest of them were driven to evil by something she could fix. Whatever was up with this dude, Marinette didn’t think she could fix it. All she could do was try to get away in one piece.

The second thing Marinette was sure of was that she currently had the worst headache she’d ever had in her life.

She was lying down in the backseat of a mid-size sedan. The man in the suit was behind the wheel, taking them to some unknown destination. Marinette opened her eyes slowly and forced herself to remain still. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself until she had a better grasp of the situation. She wasn’t tied up, that was good at least. Maybe she should try to make a break for it. The car was moving fast, but not _so_ fast, only 45 miles an hour or so. She could roll at that speed. Then Marinette noticed a gun holstered to the side of the man in the suit and changed her mind. She could probably survive the road burn, but a bullet would be more problematic.

“You’re awake.”

_Dammit._

She hadn’t been sneaky enough and the man in the suit had noticed her slight movements.

“That’s good.” The man continued, unperturbed. “We’re almost there.”

Well, if he was talking, she might as well talk too.

“Where are we going?”

“That’s classified.”

“So what? You’re from the government?”

“That’s classified.”

“Prove it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Classification is a legal designation. If our destination is classified, show me some proof.”

“That’s…not how this works.”

“Who do you work for then?”

“That’s classified.”

“What do you want with me?”

“That’s classified.”

“Are you going to answer any of my questions or are you just going to keep saying that it’s classified?”

“That’s classif—”

“Oh my _god._ ”

Adrenaline was a beautiful thing. It kept Marinette alert and relatively calm until the car came to a sudden halt and she looked out and saw the ripples of the Seine and a mostly empty  pier, populated by a single gargantuan yacht that really had no business being this far inland. It was three stories tall at least and painted black. As the man in the suit pulled Marinette from the car, she looked around and realized that she did not recognize this part of Paris. Maybe they weren’t even in Paris anymore. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, how far they had driven. They were surrounded by warehouses and empty cinderblock buildings. There wasn’t another soul in sight.

“Come along.” The man in the suit tugged at her arm, but Marinette it back.

“No way am I getting on that boat. Nuh-uh. _Not_ gonna happen.”

“You still don’t have a choice.”

“That’s what _you_ think.” Marinette snapped, grabbing his wrist and digging her fingernails into the webbing of his thumb. The man in the suit yelped and released her, but before she could run the cold muzzle of his gun was pressed against her temple and she froze.

“Alright, you _do_ have a choice.” The man acknowledged, his teeth grit against the pain. “But it’s not a very good one.”

Marinette had to admit, he got her there. She moved stiffly as he pressured her towards the yacht at the end of the pier, the gun the only thing keeping her from kicking him in the nuts and running like hell.

All of a sudden, the lights on the yacht switched on and illuminated the pier, blinding Marinette. The gun was no longer pressed against her temple, but there was no time to react before a booming voice rang out.

“Well done, Gaston, well done indeed! That will be all for the evening, see you in the morning buddy.” The burn of the lights faded and Marinette looked up to see a well-dressed man in his late twenties grinning down at her from the deck. He had a soul patch and one large diamond earring, and she couldn’t see his feet but she instinctually knew that he was wearing extremely expensive sneakers. She hated him instantly. “Come on up, Mademoiselle Ladybug. I have a proposition for you.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

*******

His name was Brad.

Because of _course_ it was.

Brad was a very lucky man. Marinette could tell that he was extraordinarily lucky within the first five minutes of being in his presence, because he certainly had not achieved his lot in life through merit alone. He was exactly what she would have expected; rich, entitled and entirely unaware of his own mediocrity. He had been born into the right kind of family and he had made the right kind of friends in school. He had smiled and smirked and schmoozed his way to success and he had found it at quite a young age by funding the pursuits of those who possessed the talent that he lacked.

Marinette had heard of tech bros before, but Brad was something even worse. Brad was a hedge fund bro. Brad had all the money necessary to change the world, and all of the wrong ideas about how to do it, and none of the skills actually necessary to make it happen. He wasn’t a bad guy. He paid other people to be bad guys for him.

Brad was the kind of man who had always gotten exactly what he wanted without ever having to struggle or strive or, really, make even a modicum of effort to achieve it.

Which was probably why it didn’t occur to him to tie up the very angry superhero he had ordered his bodyguard to kidnap. He was so convinced that he could manage her, he had sent his bodyguard home for the night. He hadn’t even bothered to keep the gun. Marinette would have been insulted, if she hadn’t quickly realized that in his mind there was still a chance that they could be friends.

Brad didn’t even see it as a kidnapping.

“No, no, of course not!” He laughed at her accusation. “This is a _business_ opportunity.”

He brought her to a sitting room with large windows and a beautiful view of the river and offered to mix her a cocktail, which Marinette brusquely declined.

The situation, as far as Marinette could tell, was this:

One of Brad’s many business ventures involved a tech start up that focused on privacy and consumer protection. Which sounded good, except the technology the start up ended up inventing did the exact opposite. And then things got worse when they tried to figure out how to actually make money with the technology. Marinette didn’t understand most of what Brad was saying, and to be perfectly honest neither did Brad, but she understood enough to get that he had used data harvested from several popular messaging aps to unmask a great number of superheroes all around the world. Including Ladybug and, presumably, Chat Noir.

He even showed her the some of the stolen data. Marinette felt nauseous when she spotted the picture Mylene had snapped of her and Adrien in the library. He tried to show her what the specialized analytics revealed about the image, but she turned her head away and refused to look at the screen he was holding out for her.

Marinette was horrified, but Brad didn’t even seem to notice her reaction. He was too caught up in explaining his grand plan.

“We’re thinking: we take this global. We’re already in talks with partners in Hong Kong and we want to do a European roll out before the end of the year. With you as the face of the brand, everyone is gonna want a piece. I’ll handle the money, the networking, the geeks, all of it. You just need to smile, look pretty and keep doing what you’re doing, and before you know it you’ll be rich beyond your wildest dreams.”

“What on earth makes you think I would represent a company that exposes superheroes?” Marinette replied coldly, thoroughly unimpressed by his pitch.

“We’re not going to expose our own clients.” Brad laughed dismissively. Marinette’s eyes narrowed.

“So you’re going to expose the people who don’t pay up. Isn’t that extortion?”

“Not technically.”

“Not interested.”

“Mademoiselle Ladybug, you’re not thinking of the possibilities. This tech doesn’t just work on superheroes. It works on villains too.” Brad smiled. “Partner with me, and you’ll have Hawk Moth’s home address by morning.”

She thought about it for a second. _Only_ for a second. Because she had to, because defeating Hawk Moth was her job and she had to seriously consider every possible opportunity that might bring him to justice. Luckily, it didn’t take much more than a second for Marinette to reasonably decide that this was a terrible idea. She stood up and glared down at the reclusive billionaire who was playing with forces beyond his ken. When she spoke, her voice was like a nail gun—loud, decisive and very sharp.

“I’m not going to help you, not now, not ever. I won’t help you because what you’re trying to do is going to hurt a lot of innocent people. I won’t help you because I care more about the safety of my family and friends than I care about money. But most of all, I won’t help you because you fucking kidnapped me and I’m not okay with that.”

She spun on her heel and began stalking towards the door, hoping he wouldn’t try to stop her.

He didn’t, at least not physically.

“That’s fine. If you won’t do it, I can always ask Adrien Agreste.”  

Marinette froze in the threshold.

“He’ll probably have a few reservations, just like you, but given the situation with his father—”

“Shut up.” Marinette whispered, her eyes clenched shut and fists shaking by her sides.

“—I’m sure I’ll be able to find the right motivation. After all, there’s more than one way—”

“Shut up!”

“—to skin a cat.”

Marinette was smart. She heard what Brad was hinting at, was more than halfway to figuring it out for herself, but she didn’t want to know. Not yet. They weren’t ready yet. And when the time came, it was supposed to be _their_ choice. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, a sneering implication meant to hurt her, meant to hurt them. Some spoiled little rich boy playing games with other people’s lives and breaking things because he didn’t know the difference between quantities and worth. This was bad, it was wrong, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

But it was too late, and before she could stop herself the fully-formed thought popped into Marinette’s head.

_Adrien is Chat Noir._

***

 

Chat Noir slunk through the shadows, bounding from post to post as he made his way down the pier. Ladybug was inside the yacht and the end, Tikki was certain, but she wasn’t alone. His enhanced hearing could pick up two voices within the yacht, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. But he could tell that she was angry, even from this distance.

That was good. Angry was way better than scared.

“Tikki?” Chat whispered as he crouched in the shadow of the yacht, directly below the window where the voices were coming from. The little kwami whizzed up to his shoulder.

“I’m here.” She pressed her arm gently against his cheek.

“Can you go to her now? Then she can transform before I…” Chat swallowed. _Before I see her and ruin everything for real this time._

Tikki buzzed nervously. “I’m not sure—I don’t want to risk being seen but—oh!”

The voices had suddenly gotten louder, accompanied by heavy thuds and the chiming of broken glass. Chat Noir blanched under his mask and Tikki threw caution to the wind, hurtling up the side of the boat and phasing through the window in the blink of an eye. Chat Noir cursed and brandished his baton, preparing to go in after her, but before he could jump—

“Spots!”

_BANG_

“On!”

_WHAM_

“Lucky charm!”

_SMASH_

A human body went flying out the the window and landed heavily on the deck. Ladybug emerged from the broken glass a moment later. She lifted her lucky charm in the air and threw it at the man on the deck as hard as she could. Chat didn’t get a good look at the object, but it was large and orange. The man yelped as it bounced off his head.

“I’ll see you in hell, Brad!” She roared as she leaped off the railing and onto the pier. She landed gracefully in front of Chat Noir, and if she was surprised to see him there she didn’t let it show. Wrathful embers burned in her eyes as she hoisted a slim black bag over her shoulder and said in an arch tone, “Kitty? Do your thing.”

Chat Noir recovered from his surprise with a blink and a bow. “As my lady commands.” One magic word later and his clawed hand was engulfed in black flame. At Ladybug’s nod, he placed his palm on the hull of the yacht and within an instant the whole thing had dissolved into rust.

“What about the guy?” Chat asked.

“My lucky charm was a life vest.” Ladybug shrugged and pointed at a spluttering figure bobbing in the waters. “See? He’s fine.” Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Never fuck with us again, Brad, or it’ll be you next and not your boat! And tell Gaston that if I _ever_ see him again, it’s his fucking _death certificate_ that’ll be classified!” Satisfied that her foe had been properly threatened, Ladybug nodded and turned to face her partner. “Thanks for coming to rescue me.”

Chat Noir shrugged and tried to smile. The attempt was shaky at best. “Doesn’t seem like you needed much rescuing.”

An awkward silence followed, interrupted only by Brad’s labored gasping as he frantically tried to paddle away from them. Chat shifted uncomfortably in place. Ladybug was staring at him as if she was expecting something more.

“Um…are you sure it’s okay letting that guy go like that? He probably knows your secret identity by now…”

“He already knew.” She replied, her voice hard and her expression unreadable. “He knew yours too.”

“Oh.” Chat’s eyes widened in alarm.

“And a ton of other heroes as well.”

“That’s really bad, isn’t it?”

“Eh. Maybe.” Ladybug shrugged the shoulder that was carrying the bag. “I stole his phone and his laptop. Hopefully Max can figure something out.”

Another awkward silence occurred. The two superheroes studied their toes, unsure of what needed to be said, unsure if they should say anything at all. The silence lasted until Ladybug’s earrings began to beep.

_You should go._

That was what he needed to say. That was what he meant to say. But when Adrien opened his mouth, the words that came out were:

“May I kiss you goodnight?”

And the next thing he knew, Ladybug had trussed him up with her yoyo, slung him over her shoulder along with the stolen computer bag and was carrying him off into the night.

It was definitely not the reaction he’d been expecting.

“Where are we going?” He tried to ask her.

“Why do you keep saying things like that?!” She screamed in reply. “Do you have any idea how difficult you’re making this for me?!” He decided not to ask anything else until they got wherever they were going. Ladybug zig-zagged across the rooftops until she got her bearings, finally choosing a specific direction and sprinting as fast as she could. Chat’s ring had just started to beep when she dropped him heavily on a cold stone floor. Chat’s head bounced against the slabs and he hissed, more from surprise than pain. The magical rope went slack and he sat up, rubbing the back of his head and looking around. His eerie gaze softened when he recognized the view, and practically melted when he spied his partner sitting against the far wall, her arms wrapped around her legs and her face hidden in her knees.

She’d brought him to her secret place. To the abandoned loft behind the old church. To the view of the river and the scent of jasmine.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise, and it wasn’t exactly confirmation either.

But it was close enough.

_Beep_

“Ladybug—”

“Don’t you want to know who I am?” Her voice was muffled by her knees, but he could tell that she was near tears.

Chat sighed and crawled to sit next to her. He leaned against the wall, their shoulders separated by a breath, and closed his eyes. “Not right now.”

“Why not?” She whispered, afraid of what his honest answer might be.

“Because you don’t want me to know.” Chat shrugged. Their jewels beeped in unison and he frowned. “We’re running out of time, milady, we need to—”

“That guy, Brad, he told me who you are.”

“I figured as much.” Chat sighed, keeping his eyes shut as a pink glow encased Ladybug’s body and her transformation gave way. “I don’t really mind, though. I never did.”

“Well, _I_ do!”

“I know. And that’s why I don’t want to know who you are.”

“Knock it off, Adrien.” Her voice was clearer—she must have raised her face so she could glare at him. “You already figured it out.”

“Nope.” Adrien said cheerfully as his own transformation ended and Plagg landed softly on his shoulder. “I’m willfully suppressing the notion, so no, technically I have not already figured it out.”

Marinette huffed and allowed her head to flop back down onto her knees. “I’m freaking out right now. How are you not freaking out right now?”

“Because I’m here with you, so how bad can it really be?”

“Bad.” Marinette groaned. “Really _really_ bad. Adrien, I was _kidnapped_ tonight. And maybe Brad’s too incompetent to follow through, but there are going to be others. I always thought it was enough to be careful but I’ve been fooling myself. I lie and I lie, to everyone, all the time, and for what? What difference does it make in the end?” Her voice became smaller with fear. “We’re never going to be safe, are we?”

“Milady, my eyes are still closed. And I’m not going to open them unless you ask me to.” He replied gently. “I can’t make promises about the rest of the world, but I can promise you that I won’t peek. If and when you’re ready to tell me who you are, I’ll be here. But I’m not going to learn your secret without your permission.”

“How can you still trust me when I’ve been lying to you?”

“Do _you_ still trust me? Even though I’ve lied to you more times than I can count?”

“Of course.”

“That’s how.”

Marinette was silent for a long time, and Adrien allowed himself to slip into contentment as he waited for her next move. His breath caught in his throat and his heart began to race when he felt her slowly reach out and interlock her fingers with his hand which was resting on his knee.

“Do you remember…” Her voice was one step away from broken, and he remained absolutely silent for fear the slightest noise would shatter her. “The final scene in The Graduate? When Dustin Hoffman goes to the church and sees Katharine Ross getting married? And he thinks he’s too late, but he has to try one last time so he bangs on the window and screams her name until she turns and looks up at him? And the whole church tries to stop them, and Dustin Hoffman is beating them with a giant cross? And there’s that moment, when Anne Bancroft grabs Katharine Ross and tells her that it’s too late? And Katharine Ross says that it’s not too late for her? Do you remember that?”

“Yes.” He whispered.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m both Katharine Ross _and_ Anne Bancroft. Like I’m Elaine _and_ Mrs. Robinson. Like I have my whole life ahead of me and at the same time I have no control over it whatsoever. Like I never get to prioritize what _I_ want because I need to be everything for everyone. And even though it’s my life, and even though my life is shaped by _my_ choices, it’s not really up to me.”

Adrien understood this. That’s why he was keeping his eyes shut. He wasn’t going to take yet another choice away from her tonight. He squeezed her hand slightly to let her know that he was listening, but he did not interrupt.

“You keep asking me out. And I want to say yes but I know I shouldn’t because it’s risky. And you make it so hard to say no sometimes. But I have to. I say that for _both_ our sakes, you know?”

“I know.” He whispered sadly. “I’m sorry for making it harder than it needs to be.”

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

“I…I don’t know. I don’t mean to. The words just come out before I can stop them.”

“What about the dare?”

Adrien winced and ran his thumb across the back of her hand. “That wasn’t…Nino meant it as a joke. I’m the one who took things too far. I’m sorry.”

“But why would you—”

“Because…” Adrien cleared his throat. “I…I just like spending time with you, is all…and…and you’re not the only one who deals with this stuff. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve lied to you over the last week? And when I wasn’t lying, I was letting you lie for me, which is just as bad. Probably worse, even.”

“Adrien?” Marinette turned to face him more fully, concerned by the rising note of despair in his voice.

“I lied about why I asked you out, I lied about who I was, I tried to trick you into revealing things you weren’t ready to reveal—”

“Adrien? You need to breathe.”

“—oh! And I _chewed_ on your _hair!_ We haven’t even _gotten_ to that bit!”

“In the library? I already knew about that, actually.”

“What?!” Adrien remembered to keep his eyes shut at the last possible second. “How did you find out?!”

“Mylene took a picture. It’s actually how Brad learned our secret identities.”

“Oh, well _that_ makes me feel _so_ much better.”

Marinette chuckled weakly. “Tell you what, I’ll forgive you if you forgive me. Deal?”

“Deal.” He agreed, giving her hand another squeeze.

Another long silence followed. At least it was comfortable this time, and not excruciatingly awkward.

“Adrien?” Marinette whispered.

“Yes?”

“You can open your eyes now.”

“I said I wouldn’t—”

“I know, I know, and I _really_ appreciate it. But the sun’s starting to come up and I didn’t actually show you how to get down the last time we were here, so…I think it’s time.”

“Are you sure?”

Marinette took a moment to consider it.

“Yes.” She said.

Adrien opened his eyes and looked at the girl of his dreams. The sun was coming up behind her, illuminating her mussed hair and her fuzzy sweater in a aura of gold.

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered, awestruck. Marinette blushed and ducked her head.

“I’m squatting in an abandoned building with no sleep and dumpster stains on my pajamas.” She pointed out.

“Then I stand corrected.” Adrien grinned and lifted her hand to brush his lips across her knuckles. “You’re _gorgeous_.”

Marinette made a noise that was halfway between a disgusted groan and an embarrassed squeak. Her blush was so dark it looked painful.

“Too cheesy?” Adrien laughed.

“Waaaaay too cheesy.” She agreed. He laughed a little harder and pulled her closer as the sun came up and their kwamis danced above their heads. Marinette rested her temple on his shoulder as he draped his arm around her waist and for a few minutes they focused only on each other and how it felt to be so close, to finally know, to _finally_ be able to stop lying.

“What are we going to tell people?” Marinette asked.

“What if we told them that this time you asked me out?”

“They’ll never buy it. People know me too well.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“What are we going to tell my parents? They’ll be up by now. They must be worried sick.”

“We can tell them there was an akuma attack. That usually works.”

“Is that what you’re going to tell your dad?”

“Maybe. He usually doesn’t notice when I stay out, so I’m not too worried about it.”

“What if—”

“Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re spiraling again.”

“Yeah…”

“You’ll see. As long as we stick together, nothing _really_ bad can happen. I promise.”

“…Adrien?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you go out with me?”

“I’m pretty sure we’re already dating at this point, but yeah. Of course I will, my lady.”

 

***

 

The paired gods of creation and destruction watched approvingly as their mortal charges fell into each other’s embrace and lost themselves.

“Finally.” Tikki muttered when Marinette placed her hand on Adrien’s jaw and tilted his face down so she could press their lips together.

“This would have happened months ago if you’d just let me drop of few hints.” Plagg told her smugly.

“How long do you think we should let them go at it?” Tikki asked a while later. “Do you think school has started already?”

“I’m not getting in the middle of that.” Plagg shuddered. “They’ll get _drool_ on me.”

“Okay, but they _do_ need to leave at some point.” She tried to reason with him. “It’s getting kind of…late. And Adrien’s phone keeps ringing.”

“Worst of all, neither of them brought snacks.” Plagg sighed. “Alright, this has gone on long enough. Oy! Kid! Drop the lips and let’s go!”

Adrien was so invested in sucking on Marinette’s neck that he did not seem to notice his kwami’s plaintive wail. Tikki tried calling to her Chosen next, but Marinette was equally distracted. Plagg’s whole body drooped as he realized he had no choice but to sit around and wait for their teenage hormones to run their course.

“Oh dear Me…” He groaned. “This is going to be my life from now on, isn’t it?”

“Oh come on, Plagg. It’s not that bad.” Tikki smirked. “What was that you said again? He can’t be bugging you when he’s snogging her?”

“I was wrong.” Plagg moaned. “This is worse. This is so much worse. How do we make them stop?”

“I don’t think we can.” Tikki smiled. “I think we just have to let them figure it out for themselves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> This fic isn't exactly my best work. It's something I worked on when I had writer's block with other projects, and so I never had a clear idea where the story was going. Also, and I'm going to be very honest with you all, I did *not* edit this. Like. At all. But! Life is hard and posting fanfiction makes me feel better so I wanted to share something. I hope you found some amusement! Thanks for reading!


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